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<title>pcre_exec specification</title>
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<h1>pcre_exec man page</h1>
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<br>
<br><b>
SYNOPSIS
</b><br>
<P>
<b>#include &#60;pcre.h&#62;</b>
</P>
<P>
<b>int pcre_exec(const pcre *<i>code</i>, const pcre_extra *<i>extra</i>,</b>
<b>const char *<i>subject</i>, int <i>length</i>, int <i>startoffset</i>,</b>
<b>int <i>options</i>, int *<i>ovector</i>, int <i>ovecsize</i>);</b>
</P>
<br><b>
DESCRIPTION
</b><br>
<P>
This function matches a compiled regular expression against a given subject
string, using a matching algorithm that is similar to Perl's. It returns
offsets to captured substrings. Its arguments are:
<pre>
  <i>code</i>         Points to the compiled pattern
  <i>extra</i>        Points to an associated <b>pcre_extra</b> structure,
                 or is NULL
  <i>subject</i>      Points to the subject string
  <i>length</i>       Length of the subject string, in bytes
  <i>startoffset</i>  Offset in bytes in the subject at which to
                 start matching
  <i>options</i>      Option bits
  <i>ovector</i>      Points to a vector of ints for result offsets
  <i>ovecsize</i>     Number of elements in the vector (a multiple of 3)
</pre>
The options are:
<pre>
  PCRE_ANCHORED      Match only at the first position
  PCRE_NOTBOL        Subject is not the beginning of a line
  PCRE_NOTEOL        Subject is not the end of a line
  PCRE_NOTEMPTY      An empty string is not a valid match
  PCRE_NO_UTF8_CHECK Do not check the subject for UTF-8
                       validity (only relevant if PCRE_UTF8
                       was set at compile time)
  PCRE_PARTIAL       Return PCRE_ERROR_PARTIAL for a partial match
</pre>
There are restrictions on what may appear in a pattern when partial matching is
requested.
</P>
<P>
A <b>pcre_extra</b> structure contains the following fields:
<pre>
  <i>flags</i>        Bits indicating which fields are set
  <i>study_data</i>   Opaque data from <b>pcre_study()</b>
  <i>match_limit</i>  Limit on internal recursion
  <i>callout_data</i> Opaque data passed back to callouts
  <i>tables</i>       Points to character tables or is NULL
</pre>
The flag bits are PCRE_EXTRA_STUDY_DATA, PCRE_EXTRA_MATCH_LIMIT,
PCRE_EXTRA_CALLOUT_DATA, and PCRE_EXTRA_TABLES.
</P>
<P>
There is a complete description of the PCRE native API in the
<a href="pcreapi.html"><b>pcreapi</b></a>
page and a description of the POSIX API in the
<a href="pcreposix.html"><b>pcreposix</b></a>
page.
<p>
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